No one confessed to having a birthday, so no song was sung.

The secret handshaker was Tom Ganz who picked Homer Erickson as best handshaker.

Ralp Green announced that Homer Erickson was the winner of last week's contest. This weeks contest was given by Ralph Green.

Raffle winners were Ralph Green, Bonnie Godby and Micheal Bucy.

PROGRAM: Kevin Grant, Allegiance Wealth Management introduced by Becky Chapman

Kevin Grant walked through how investing in income producing bonds might fit into a diversified portfolio, particularly municipal bonds (munis), which are lower risk than other marketable securities. Using an example of a Purdue bond issue, Kevin explained that municipalities (and public schools) issue bonds to raise money for specific projects. The coupon interest rate represents the rate of return (not the yield) for the income one should expect to receive, paid semi-annually. The maturity date represents the date at which the bond will mature, or will be ‘called’. The buying price is critical because the price reflects the prevailing financial market interest rate; as interest rates go down, the bond price (cost per $ 100 of the bond) goes up as a premium to be paid over $100 par value. Yield to maturity is the return on investment actually earned over the life of the bond, above $100 par value – which will be less than the 5% rate because of the ‘premium’ over par paid up- front. The call date is the date (prior to the maturity date) after which the institution MAY buy the bond back. And most munis are state tax free. The bond rating is set by Moody and/or Standard & Poors, as a measure of potential default. A’s are the least risky; the more A’s the better. Typically, income earned from munis is free from federal income taxes and typically free from state income taxes IF you live in the state that issued the bond. Corporate bonds work differently because they are taxed – so would need a higher yield to net the same amount of pocket change. Bonds rated lower than A are much more risky; therefore, will pay higher rates. Note that there are other more complex characteristics of investing in bonds, for example, the impact of the secondary bond markets. A few bond related investment strategies were then discussed.